Unless your business has been hiding in a cave for the last 10 years, reducing travel costs is something you’ve probably been thinking hard about. The days of locking in year-round prices for car rental and airfares are gone —a good travel procurement policy can no longer be just a negotiated rate. Today travel purchasers have a far greater role to play.

So are you tuned to meet your travel procurement needs? Can you quickly compare prices from all top-tier car rental players for car types and dates that suit? On one screen? Do you access distressed inventory bargains? Can you confirm bookings in less than five minutes?

For most businesses these days purchasing online has risen as an area of particular interest for many managers. But how can you be sure that you’ll find the right resources in the first place? Or, as one analyst puts it, how can you be sure you’re lying on the right railway tracks?

Companies are wasting money by not comparing prices for car rental. Car rental is an area of untapped savings. Not so sure anymore about your purchasing? Well you’re not alone in the cave.

The best way to get cheap car rental is to source websites that perform meta-searches to your specifications. You put in your preferred dates, car size/type and location, and the site does the rest. Online search sites are able to access all the cheapest prices from all the companies – including the last minute prices which are often lower because the inventory is ‘distressed’. All the regular prices will also appear as a matter of course.

Companies who lock in agreed rates for a whole twelve month period will often miss out on these distressed inventory bargains or even low-season low rates. Companies who always travel at high season and can negotiate a discounted rate may do better to lock in that agreed rate. However last minute travelers will often find that they can beat that rate a few days before travel – and get even deeper discounts at low season travel periods.

Ready to come out of the cave? It pays to check prices 3-7 days before travel.

Jennifer Maguire has more than ten years experience in travel and marketing. She is passionate about customer service and a better experience in travel planning. Jennifer is Director of Central Car Hire. centralcarhire.com www.centralcarhire.com compares cheap car rental prices for Avis, Budget, Hertz, Europcar and Thrifty – on one screen – book and confirm in three easy steps.